ARTICLES ABOUT DISTRIBUTION CENTER BY DATE - PAGE 3

FedEx Ground has opened a new distribution center in Grayslake that will employ 200 full and part-time workers, the company said Thursday. The 214,000 square-foot building will be used to sort and deliver packages in the area. Pittsburgh-based FedEx said in a press release that the workforce could grow to 500 when it is "operating at full capacity. " The new facility is part of the company's efforts " to increase the size, speed and efficiency of our network," said Bob F. Wilson, vice president of the Central Region for FedEx Ground.

When Sally Pofcher took the CEO job at Paper Source four years ago, she found too much of a good thing. The Chicago-based independent stationery and crafting store reflected the quirky tastes of its founder Sue Lindstrom, an artist obsessed with paper who traveled the world buying whatever struck her fancy. But the operations languished in creative chaos. Walking through the Paper Source warehouse required twisting and turning through a stockpile of old desks, broken office chairs, air-conditioning units and out-of-date computer monitors.

Martin-Brower Co., one of McDonald Corp.'s biggest suppliers, has agreed to acquire the international fast-food logistics assets from a Brazilian meat processor for $400 million. Martin-Brower is a division of Reyes Holdings LLC, an international food and beverage distributor that is one of the largest privately held companies in the United States. The transaction with Marfrig Alimentos SA. is expected to close in the fourth quarter. The deal would give Martin-Brower, based in Rosemont, 28 distribution centers in the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Electrolux plans to open a Midwest regional distribution center in Minooka for its North American major appliances business, replacing its existing facility in Plainfield, Ind. The Swedish maker of refrigerators and vacuum cleaners said the new 500,000-square-foot distribution center outside of Chicago will begin operating in October. The center will also house a 1,200-square-foot showroom of household appliances. The company said it is building the new center to be closer to Chicago's major transportation hub and speed delivery of its products to 15 states.

The electronics giant Samsung is moving to a new distribution center in Romeoville, Mayor John Noak announced this week. The company has already begun moving into the 600,000-square-foot warehouse building on Southcreek Parkway owned by The Pizzuti Cos., a real estate developer, Noak said at Wednesday's Village Board meeting. Noak said Samsung also has warehouse facilities in the nearby communities of Bolingbrook and Joliet. It's unclear whether Samsung will consolidate its workforce to the new building in Romeoville.

On the site in Cicero where horses used to race around a track and bettors put down their $2 wagers, about all one sees on these wintry days is debris and blowing garbage. Horses stopped racing at the famed Sportsman's Park racetrack in 2003, and the decades-old facility — which was renovated in its final years to accommodate auto racing — shut down soon after. It was demolished in 2009. For years, the site was talked about as a prime spot for development, but grand proposals involving commercial, residential and recreational enterprises became bogged down amid financial woes, political infighting, corruption allegations and lawsuits.

An Algonquin man implicated in the theft of up to 45 slot machines was arrested after authorities were tipped that one of the machines was seen posted for sale on the Internet. Leszak Zujko, a dispatcher at a Wood Dale trucking company, had his bond set at $200,000 on Wednesday by a DuPage County judge. Zujko, 42, is accused of stealing one of the slot machines, which was valued at $10,000, authorities said. The thefts are believed to have occurred at a distribution center in Wood Dale.

W.W. Grainger Inc. said it has purchased a 1 million-square-foot distribution center in Minooka and plans to relocate its distribution activities there from Niles by 2012. When completed, the facility will employ about 400 warehouse and logistics workers. A similar number of employees work at the 750,000-square-foot Howard Street warehouse in Niles, a spokeswoman said, adding that they will be offered jobs at the new facility. The move will not affect Grainger's operations on Melvina Avenue in Niles.

The city has approved the purchase of vacant land in the stockyards district by Testa Produce Inc., which will build a 195,000-square-foot fruit and vegetable distribution facility there. Much of that 10.49-acre site at 4555 S. Racine Ave. is city-owned, part of the former Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. property. The Community Development Commission approved the sale of the land to Dominick Testa and Sons, owners of Testa Produce, this month. Testa will pay $1 for the parcel, which was used to store manure from livestock pens before it became part of a rail yard.

The city will provide financial assistance for the development of a distribution center on the site of the former Brach's Confections Inc. facility in the Austin neighborhood. ML Realty Partners LLC will own and develop the 520,775-square-foot distribution center at 401 N. Cicero Ave. Because site preparation will require demolition of two dilapidated buildings that have been vacant on the 30-acre Brach's site for several years, the developer will receive $10.6 million in tax-increment financing for its $42.3 million project.